Running and athletics fans have something to look forward to as the reigning world half marathon champion, Sabastian Kimaru Sawe, will be on the starting line of the Prague Half Marathon this coming Saturday (April 6).
Alongside the Kenyan champion, many other exciting names in the world of athletics will run in one of the most beautiful and prestigious races. This year there will be a record 15,500 runners from 115 countries. "Every year, star endurance athletes come to Prague, but this year, it is an absolute running extravaganza,” said Carlo Capalbo, President of the RunCzech Organising Committee.
“We are very pleased and believe that Sawe's performance will be one of the highlights of this year's event." Sabastian Kimaru Sawe (pic) became half marathon king last October in Riga, Latvia, where he ran 59:10, however, his personal best is an astonishing 58:29.
The 29-year-old running phenomenon is coming to Prague for the first time, straight from the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, where he finished 7th in the individual race and was also part of the Kenyan winning team. The record for The Prague Half Marathon stands at 58:47 by Atsedu Tsegay in 2012.
Will this time survive an attack by Sawe, or will one of the other elite African endurance runners entered in this year's event take the crown? Sawe’s compatriots Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba (59:13), Patrick Kabirech Mosin (59:31), and Maxwell Kortek Rotich from Uganda, who was second in the Czech capital last year (1:00:06), will be tough competition in his battle for victory.
Among the European athletes, we look to Irishman Stephen Scullion (1:01:08), Portugal’s Hélio Gomes (1:02:07), and Spain’s Abdennasser Oukhelfen (1:02:51) for the challenge. The European event record is 1:02:17, and there is a great chance it will be broken. The Czech athletes have just returned from their Kenyan training camp, and we look forward to seeing if they can improve on their personal best performances - Patrik Vebr (1:05:42), the defending champion on the Czech side last year, will be challenging the ageless Jirka Homoláč (1:03:23), who is the holder of the best Czech performance here, as well as Martin Zajíc (1:04:28).
This sell-out half marathon, which has established itself as an Elite World Athletics event, starts on Saturday at 10 a.m. on the Bubenské Nábřeží and will be broadcast live on Czech Television. For international audiences eager to witness the excitement unfold, Czech TV will have a broadcast on YouTube with the English star commentator Tim Hutchings, who has more than 20 years of experience commenting on the Olympics, European and World Championships.
Alternatively, Pulse.tv, the innovative platform that provides spectators with the ultimate viewing experience will be streaming the event live, allowing viewers to select their preferred runner and follow them throughout the race and choosing the best video coverage.
